• Associates of deceased trio test negative; hospitals following DGHS guidelines   

Following three new Covid-19 deaths being reported from Kurunegala and Jaffna, the relevant Hospital administrations said that there was no need to advocate for patients and hospital staff to be quarantined since no infected cases had been reported except for the dead patients.

Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (16), the Directors of the two Hospitals — the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital and the Jaffna Teaching Hospital — said that all the individuals associated with the deceased were subjected to testing, but that no one was found to be positive for Covid-19 in both the Hospitals. When contacted, the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital Director, Dr. Mihiri Priyangani, said that no one tested positive from the wards where the deaths were reported and that therefore, no staff members were asked to quarantine. Meanwhile, the Director of the Jaffna Teaching Hospital, Dr. T. Sathiyamoorthy told The Daily Morning that while no one was asked to quarantine following the said death, the Hospital is strictly monitoring the situation and following the latest Covid-19 guidelines issued by the Director General of Health Services (DGHS).

The Secretary to the Health Ministry, Dr. Palitha Mahipala, and the DGHS, Dr. Asela Gunawardena, were unavailable for comment.

Earlier this week, the polymerase chain reaction tests conducted on two female patients who had passed away during treatment at the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital were confirmed to be Covid-19. In addition, a 62-year-old woman who was receiving treatment at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital died of Covid-19. It was reported that the woman, a resident of Jaffna, had arrived from France last week and was admitted to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital due to fever. She had died on 12 April, and the post-mortem report had reportedly revealed that the death was due to Covid-19.